South
Korean conglomerate STX Group and Abu
Dhabi state-owned fund Aabar Investments are to put in
a joint bid for a 15% stake in Hynix Semiconductor, an anonymous source
yesterday told Reuters.

According to
the Wall Street Journal, the shipbuilding-to-shipping conglomerate plans to
expand its business portfolio with the acquisition of part of the
chip-manufacturer, resulting in 40% of its total revenue coming from
semiconductors.

However,
STX has no plans to allow their Middle-Eastern partner to hold a role in the
management of Hynix. A major shareholder told Reuters earlier this month that
STX would only consider foreign investors with no interest in managing the
company, a sentiment echoed by yesterday’s source.

"If we
do form a consortium with the sovereign wealth fund for a Hynix bid, we will
have the management rights over the chip maker," the source said.
"Aabar will just be a financial investor."

The 15%
stake in Hynix, which was acquired by creditors in 2001, is currently valued at
approximately $1.4 billion. If the acquisition by STX and Aabar goes ahead,
each is expected to fund half of the cost. South Korean mobile company SK
Telecom has also bid for the stake.

Local media
reported that the deadline for final bids may be delayed to from mid-September
to October; however Hynix’s creditors said today that they had received no
request from bidders to change this deadline.